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Lafayette photographer and filmmaker Olivia Perillo creates slice of life Cajun film

Olivia Perillo, Lafayette-based visual artist, photographer and filmmaker, released new film, Intention, in February. The film captures Cajun culture for women and art.(Photo: Sara Crochet)

From the swampy waterways of Louisiana to the flat grasslands of West Texas to the carved desert of Arizona, Olivia Perillo remembers watching the landscape transform in front of her young eyes.

These road trips with her family helped develop her keen eye for visuals and observing the natural world. These attentions to details led Perillo to becoming a Lafayette-based visual artist, photographer and, most recently, a filmmaker.

"I got into photography by documenting my surroundings on these trips growing up, especially in West Texas," she said. "I found it fascinating that I could live, for sometimes weeks at a time during the summer, in a completely different world than the one that I lived in, but one that was also part of my ancestral identity."

Her documentary feature film, "Intention," was released in February, under Honest Art Productions. "Intention" marked Perillo's most recent collaboration with creative partner Syd Horn. The duo's first film, "Migration," debuted in 2018.

Olivia Perillo, right, a Lafayette-based visual artist, photographer and filmmaker, released new film, Intention, in February with her creative partner Syd Horn. The film captures Cajun culture for women and art.(Photo: Olivia Perillo)

Perillo and Horn met in elementary school but didn't run in the same circle of friends until after school. The two became close during Kinomada, a 10-day short film lab based out of Quebec that came to Lafayette in November 2018.

The two had discussed making a film for a year leading up to the class. They wanted to document a women they both knew but had met separately. Their mutual friend, originally from France, migrated from the East Coast to Louisiana every year. Perillo wanted to juxtapose her with the birds of Lake Martin and so "Migration" was born.

The short film features three Francophone women — one from France, one from Africa, one from Puerto Rico. Migration questions what home truly is, a "place or is it a place we carry with us anywhere we land?"

Olivia Perillo, Lafayette-based visual artist, photographer and filmmaker, released new film, Intention, in February. The film captures Cajun culture for women and art.(Photo: Olivia Perillo)

The short film has been shown in eight different countries since its premier, and is currently streaming for the month of May through New Orleans Film Society's "From NOLA with Love" web series, available at nolalove.eventive.org.

Perillo always thought she'd become a cinematographer, though she appreciates photography for being able to capture a solid moment in time. Her newfound appreciation for film visuals is only matched by Horn's love of writing, Perillo said.

The cultural landscape of South Louisiana and Perillo's ancestral roots in the desert Southwest are often documented in her work. When she isn't doing commissioned work, Perillo can be found photographing the terrain and wildlife around her.

This exploration of the natural world started as a teenager and is still an ongoing personal photography project of hers. Through the years, she has found many similarities between Mexican and Cajun culture.

"There's some sort of underlying current that exists here that's different than other places, a different dynamic. It's also in west Texas," she said. "It's still fairly divided in some parts of Lafayette but I hope to bridge those gaps with my work."

The idea for her most recent film is derived from this concept. Perillo has always been interested in the creative process and how it heals the artist and the audience simultaneously, although in perhaps different ways.

"I wanted to capture this to learn more about myself as a multidisciplinary artist," she said. " ... to show the audience where they can find healing qualities in our culture and in art."

This developed into documenting several perspectives of the South Louisiana cultural landscape exploring not only art but music, food, language, poetry, traditional craft and faith healing.

Olivia Perillo, Lafayette-based visual artist, photographer and filmmaker, released new film, Intention, in February. The film captures Cajun culture for women and art.(Photo: Olivia Perillo)

Early on in the pre-production process, Perillo and Horn applied for the CREATE Louisiana French Culture Film Grant, which they received. This injection of funds helped them produce a higher budget film. The end result is a 56 minute film with 11 subjects and eight months of interviews and visuals.

Perillo and Horn are currently working on a website and distribution platform for "Intention," as well as donations for the film and investments for their future work.

Through the grant, "Intention" premiered at the New Orleans French Film Festival, which ended up being a sold out screening.

"I absolutely loved the film-making process as a whole, in collaborating with amazing artists both on and off screen," she said. "And I am so grateful to our subjects for trusting us to tell their stories about living in a magical place with an underrepresented voice."

Contact Victoria Dodge at vdodge@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @Victoria_Dodge